Transfer
by Hackmanite
Summary: "Good fight," I conceded. He nodded. "Well, it was nice wiping the floor with your ass, anyway." Yeah I don't give compliments. "What's your name, Transfer?" "Eric." "I'm Ria Delancie. Pleased to make your acquaintance." Eric/Dauntless-born OC; pre-Divergent. (I'm really bad with summaries sorry).
1. Chapter 1: Loyalty

**Disclaimer: anything recognizable belongs to Veronica Roth. I own only my OCs and the plot. I just randomly thought I'd try my hand at an Eric story because why not? I hope it isn't too bad.**

He listens as Jeanine explains her plan to him. She isn't telling him everything, he knows this. She still doesn't fully trust him. He'll prove himself to her eventually. She's given him everything he had. He owed her.

* * *

 _Eric's eyes scanned the same sentence over and over again as he tried unsuccessfully to block out the raised voices coming from downstairs. He frowned at the book, wishing it would hold his attention better. It was some book on psychology and the human brain._

" _You are a useless, no-good, stupid bastard! Honestly, I don't even know how you passed initiation; Erudites are supposed to be smart!"_

" _Oh, look who's talking! Yeah, go ahead, insult me some more, you bitch! Blame everything on me!"_

" _How can I not blame everything on you, it's clearly your fault, I don't know why I even married you in the first place!"_

 _Eric sighed, dropping the book and lying onto his back, glaring at the ceiling. They'd quit fighting, eventually. Then they'd start yelling at him. He hoped it would end quickly, but it rarely did._

* * *

" _What is this?!" His father snarled, thrusting the piece of paper into Eric's face._

" _I-"_

" _I asked you a question!"_

" _It's a test." Eric glared up at his father._

" _DON'T YOU ACT FRESH WITH ME, BOY!" His father roared. "IT'S A NINETY-NINE!"_

" _It's the highest grade in the class-"_

" _IT'S NOT HIGH ENOUGH!"_

 _Eric ground his teeth together. Of course it wasn't enough._

" _I DON'T KNOW WHY THE HELL I STILL LET YOU LIVE UNDER MY ROOF, BOY! YOU'RE USELESS, TOO STUPID TO GET A PERFECT SCORE! WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT NOT GETTING A PERFECT SCORE?!"_

" _You said I wouldn't eat for a week."_

" _AND YOU WON'T!" His father stormed out of his room, slamming the door behind him so hard the room shook. Eric heard the click of the lock and sighed, resigning himself to the hunger pains that were going to start in a few hours. He opened his book again._

* * *

" _You're a very smart boy, did you know?" Her voice was soft, and the expression on her face was what he assumed she thought to be motherly. He stayed silent, letting her continue. "I've been watching you for a while. You get the highest scores in your class consistently. You're determined to always be the best. That's why I've chosen you to help me."_

 _He listened as she explained that she was going to 'take him under her wing'. His training would begin tomorrow, so that he'd be ready for his choice at the Choosing Ceremony._

* * *

" _What were your aptitude results?"_

" _Erudite... and Dauntless."_

" _Interesting. I was not expecting this..." Jeanine thought for a moment, and her smile came back quickly enough. "Well, it won't be a setback. The plan will not change. You are loyal to me, aren't you?"_

* * *

Eric looked at the five bowls before him. The knife moved and he felt the slight pain. He didn't wince. His blood sizzled on the burning coals, and his chosen faction broke into cheers as he moved towards them. Jeanine nodded approvingly in the Erudite section.


	2. Chapter 2: Fight

**Disclaimer: anything recognizable belongs to Veronica Roth. I own only my OCs and the plot.**

* * *

Dauntless initiation turned out to be harder than he'd expected. Eric knew his mission: he had to achieve the highest rank, and get a leadership position. But this, he found, would be harder than he thought: some Stiff transfer, Tobias Eaton, was as determined as he to achieve first place. Still, Eric was sure he'd be able to handle it. He wasn't one to let the competition get the better of him.

He figured the first thing to do to become more like the Dauntless was to get a tattoo, or piercing, or something. Maybe cut his hair. He still looked new and like an Erudite. After they were released from training for the day, he headed down to the Pit.

The fight that occured was _not_ his fault. Not completely. He certainly didn't _ask_ for the Dauntless-born to insult him. He'd been minding his own business, looking through the tattoos available in the parlor (in which every square inch was covered by designs), when the boy, blond with a piercing in his nose, backed by one or two friends, asked him why he was so hesitant in choosing. Eric (with his trademark glare) answered that he didn't want to make the wrong choice and then regret it later. The boy had laughed, suggesting that because Eric was hesitant (which he _wasn't_ ), he was too chicken to be in Dauntless.

Therefore, it had been completely the boy's fault when Eric (without any hesitation whatsover) punched him in the face. Within moments, they were on the floor with Eric on top holding the boy down with a hand at his throat and his fist poised to break his pierced nose.

"HALT!" Someone snapped. Eric glanced up. She was blonde, the same shade as the boy's hair, with an electric blue streak in her hair, and a piercing in her eyebrow and both ears. She was pretty enough, he supposed, though rather wild-looking (though that was probably because he wasn't used to the difference between Dauntless and his old faction). "Get off my brother," she ordered him. When he did, she proceeded to insult the boy; Jason, her brother, as Eric found out. She dismissed her brother's explanation of the fight, asking Eric what the hell he thought he was doing.

"Your brother is a cocky piece of dipshit," Eric found himself saying.

Her storm-grey eyes met his glare for glare. "Only I'm allowed to call him that, Transfer. You want a fight? You've got one."

"I don't fight girls."

* * *

 **(Ria's POV)**

"Your fight with Chris was awesome, Ria," Shauna , my best friend, grinned and nudged me.

I shrugged. "It was too easy, honestly. I expected better from a Dauntless-born. Then again, it's _that_ Dauntless-born..."

"Don't be mean, Ria. I think he's got a crush on you. Maybe he went easy?"

"Eww!" I wrinkled my nose, sticking my tongue out in disgust. "Let's _not_ consider that possibility. I hope he's just scared of me. I'm totally intimidating."

"Yeah, _totally_ intimidating," said a new voice behind me. I turned to glare at Ezekeil "Zeke" Pedrad. "What?" He grinned innocently. "I didn't say you _weren't_." My glare made him shut up. I elbowed Shauna in the ribs when I noticed she was staring at him weirdly. If that girl's picture wasn't next to the definition of 'obvious' in the dictionary, someone had to rewrite the damn book.

We were heading to the Pit when we heard a commotion. It looked like a fight, from the quick glance I got between the people crowding around. I shoved past them, stepping on a few toes and getting plenty of reproachful glares. Zeke and Shauna followed me, apologizing halfheartedly to the people I stepped on or elbowed out of my way. When I got to the front of the crowd, I groaned in irritation. My brother was getting his ass handed to him by some boy who I assumed was a fellow initiate, a transfer, given as I'd never seen him before.

"HALT," I snapped, and both boys froze where they were. Jason looked up at me through his one good eye (the other was quickly swelling from a well placed punch by the transfer) with an expression that I assumed was apologetic (it was rather difficult to tell; Transfer had done a number on him). "Get off of my brother!" I snapped at Transfer, who obeyed, albeit with a glare. "Jason, you cocky, idiotic little..." I broke off with an aggravated sigh, offering him my hand and helping him up. "What the hell is this?"

"I just asked the transfer a question, and he got pissed off and tried to smash my face in!" Jason held his hands up, trying to act innocent.

"Yeah well he did a damn good job. Learn to fight, or stop pissing people off." I shoved him towards Zeke, who was laughing at Jason hysterically. My attention went to the transfer. "Who the hell do you think you are, attacking my brother?"

"Your brother is a cocky piece of dipshit."

"Only I'm allowed to call him that, Transfer. You want a fight? You've got one."

The boy (the really, _really_ cute boy, my brain filled in for me) arched an eyebrow, his blue eyes (really pretty eyes – shut up, brain) narrowing. "I don't fight girls."

I snorted. "Sucks. You're in Dauntless now. That means you're gonna have to fight girls. I'll go easy if you're scared."

At that, his fists went up. I'd hit a nerve. Without warning, he lunged at me. I stepped out of the way, catching his fist in my hands and twisting his arm.

"Sloppy," I clicked my tongue at him. He growled, trying again. This time, however, he aimed a kick at me when I sidestepped him, and nearly caught me off guard. The fight lasted a few more minutes. He got a hit on me, kicking me in the stomach and sending me stumbling back a few feet, the breath knocked out of me. Still, eventually I got the upper hand, sweeping his feet out from under him and then straddling him to keep him down, my hands at his throat. He met my eyes, and gave a slight nod, acknowledging that I'd won. I got up, running a hand through my blonde hair to push it out of my face.

He pushed himself up, still glaring. The glare was probably a permanent expression on his face.

"Good fight," I conceded. He nodded. "Well, it was nice wiping the floor with your ass, anyway." Yeah I don't give compliments. "What's your name, Transfer?"

"Eric Coulter."

"I'm Ria Delancie. Pleased to make your acquaintance." He gave me a slight nod.

"Ria, come on! I wanna go find lunch!" My brother yelled, bruises seemingly forgotten.

I turned and rolled my eyes at him, before looking back at the transfer. "Well, maybe I'll see you around sometime, Eric."


	3. Chapter 3: Talking at the Chasm

**Disclaimer: anything recognizable belongs to Veronica Roth. I own only my OCs and the plot.**

* * *

Ria sighed, shifting in bed. It was the middle of the night, but she couldn't sleep. She hated her insomnia, but there was little that she could do about it. The rigor of training had been helping a bit by tiring her out so much that it didn't take her as long as usual to fall asleep, but right now, despite her exhaustion, her brain would not shut off. She realized that lying in bed wasn't going to make her fall asleep any faster.

She pulled a sweater and a pair of shoes on, and walked out of the dormitory. In the morning she really should go the infirmary to ask for stronger pills for her insomnia, but Ria knew she'd probably forget by then, and only remember the next night she couldn't fall asleep. She decided to try and sneak into the kitchens and grab some food. Then maybe she'd go sit by the Chasm; the sound of the rushing water cutting through the silence of the compound had soothed her many times over the years and allowed her to get a few hours of rest.

She'd paid Zeke a couple of points for the code to access the kitchens a few weeks ago (who knows where _he_ got it from). She'd found it completely worth it. She filled a plate with Dauntless cake and apples and then shut the door behind her, then headed for the Chasm.

* * *

Eric quietly made his way out of the dormitory. He was seething. The Stiff had beaten him in their fight. Barely, but nonetheless. He wasn't first. He needed to be first, but now there was practically no chance of it, the first part of initiation being nearly over. Jeanine would be angry. He hadn't been paying attention to where he was going, but he could now hear the sound of water echoing up from the walls of the Chasm. He walked towards it, sitting down at the edge, feet hanging over. Short of killing Four, he had no idea how to get first place. There are more parts to initiation, he told himself. It wasn't over yet.

He was pulled out of his thoughts, looking up to find Ria sitting next to him. "What're you doing here?"

"Couldn't sleep. What're _you_ doing here? Not contemplating on throwing yourself over, are you?" She asked him through a mouth full of cake. He arched an eyebrow, and she arched one right back, as though to say _Are you judging?_ "You know there's a curfew, right?" She asked after swallowing the cake. "You'd get in quite a bit of trouble if I mentioned to Max or Amar that you were up here without supervision."

"You'd be getting yourself in trouble, because you wouldn't have known I was here unless you were out past curfew as well. Plus, if you actually cared about breaking the rules or turning me in, you wouldn't be here. You'd have already ratted me out."

"True." She shrugged. "Want some cake?" She laughed at the expression on his face. "Don't worry, Transfer, it's not poisoned."

If it was poisoned, she wouldn't be eating it. He took the cake.

"So..." she said, starting on a green apple and alternating bites of that with her cake.

"A week ago, you were holding me down on the floor with your hand at my throat, and now you're talking to me like nothing ever happened." Eric frowned. "Do you do that with everyone?"

She paused, thinking about her response. "Well, yeah, I guess. Fights are pretty normal at Dauntless. Most of us get pretty good at it from a young age. They're not really a big deal. Isn't it the same in Erudite? That's where you transferred from, isn't it?"

"I don't remember having many physical fights at Erudite."

"Then how did you know how to fight when you came here? I mean, Erudites are smart, but not _that_ smart, right? Fighting surely can't be learned by just reading a book."

He snorted. "Some are, I'm sure. I had prior training."

"Why?"

"None of your business."

"Wow, okay." She looked a bit taken aback at his sudden change in tone.

They sat in silence for a few more minutes.

"So why _are_ you here?" She ventured.

"Couldn't sleep."

"Insomnia? I have that."

"No. I was just thinking."

More silence.

"Should I ask what you were thinking about, or are you gonna snap at me?"

"I'll probably snap at you." His honesty made her laugh.

"Alright." She offered him more cake, and he took it. "I'll tell you about my day, then." She told him about her fight with Zeke and how he'd knocked her out, and waking up at the infirmary with him and Shauna hovering over her and him apologizing over and over until she'd yelled at him to shut up already. She told him about the rankings, and how Zeke was like second in the Dauntless-born ranking and she was fourth, and Shauna was fifth. Then she realized he had no idea who Shauna and Zeke were, and she promised to introduce him sometime.

Eric watched her talk. She wasn't looking at him to check if he was listening; instead she was looking down at the rushing water far beneath their feet. Ria probably figured that he wasn't paying attention, but he was. There was something fascinating about how she talked. She moved her hands about as she did, and her range of expressions while she talked to him made him smile inwardly. He actually did smile when she recounted something about some initiate named Chris. Not because it was particularly amusing, but because he found it cute, the way she wrinkled her nose slightly in disgust, or how she grinned when she was telling him about the stupid things her brother would do. She'd looked up and caught his faint smile, and though he quickly wiped the expression off his face, the slight smile she'd given him in response told him she hadn't missed it.

And then she mentioned the Stiff. His fist clenched and Eric felt himself glaring out over the Chasm. She broke off in the middle of her sentence, looking at him quizzically. "You're friends with the Stiff?" He demanded, turning his head to look at her.

"Not really. He's friends with Zeke, though. He seems nice enough to me, if a bit too quiet."

Eric grunted slightly in response.

"Are you being a sore loser?"

"What?" He frowned.

"You lost to him, didn't you, in your fight?" He nodded. "You're really competitive, aren't you?"

"It's an Erudite habit."

"And a Dauntless one, don't worry. Pride means a lot here. I get why you're pissed. Ugh," Ria suddenly groaned.

"What?"

"We've run out of food."

Eric looked down at the plate, noticing that they had indeed run out of food. He looked up at her stricken expression, and began to laugh. She gave him a halfhearted glare, but eventually laughed, too. "You ate most of that, you know," he pointed out.

"You ate a fair amount too."

"It was only two slices of cake. You had double that, plus like three apples. Besides, you offered."

"So I did." She grinned at him, running a hand through her hair. Then she glanced at the watch on her wrist. "Shit, it's like four in the morning. You really ought to go get more sleep before they wake you guys up for more training."

Eric nodded, pushing himself up and offering her a hand, which she took.

"So... it was nice seeing you again, Transfer," she said, noticing that he was still holding her hand and shaking his hand, letting go quickly and awkwardly running a hand through her hair again.

"Do you even know my name?" He asked.

"Eric Coulter." She grinned at him. "I may not be an Erudite, but I do have a functioning memory, you know." Then she bid him good night, and walked away towards her dormitory.

Eric felt the corners of his mouth turn up slightly. Then he turned and walked away from the Chasm.


End file.
